Red Tide
by Kore Revere
Summary: Addie was angry and frustrated. There was a whole pantheon of all-powerful beings who did nothing more than squabble among themselves, her mother was dead, and her brother refused to bring her along on the quest he was undertaking. She wasn't just going to sit around at Camp. "Fine," she decided, looking at the sunglasses dude. "I'll help you."
1. Piercing Arrow

RED TIDE  
CHAPTER ONE: PIERCING ARROW  
(I do not own _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_, nor do I own Cheetos.)

* * *

Addie figured that she must have done some pretty awful things in her past life, because her current life sucked. That was how karma worked, right?

She frowned as she made her way up the Metropolitan Museum of Art's front steps. The building itself was quite dramatic, large columns and fancy facades, and on any other day, she might have stopped to appreciate it, but today was blustery and rainy and all around unpleasant, and she was already in a bad mood thanks to Bobo.

Her brother Percy seemed to understand and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they entered the heated building. "Maybe it won't be so bad." He gave a small half-smile. "I mean, this stuff is kind of interesting."

She smiled back. "Yeah." At least Percy was making an effort. The least she could do was try as well.

Mr. Brunner was leading their class in his motorized wheelchair. Out of all the teachers at Yancy Academy, Addie definitely favored him if only because he was just so _cool_. His class, Latin, sounded about as interesting as sorting through her step-father's dirty socks (a task that she was, unfortunately, acquainted with), but he made it fun by adding interesting anecdotes and showing everyone his collection of Roman weapons (no way the School Board would approve of that if they knew). The fact that Percy was one of his favorite students was also nice, even if Mr. Brunner did tend to set the bar a little too high.

As Mr. Brunner explained about a certain _stele _displayed on the museum wall, a group of girls giggled loudly behind them, pointing to a naked figure on the other wall. Percy scowled and turned around. "Will you shut up!?"

All at once, everyone went silent, including Mr. Brunner, and Percy's shout echoed in the empty air. "Mr. Jackson," he said, "do you have a comment?"

Percy's face flushed red. "No, sir." There was a hushed giggling behind them again, and Addie turned to glare. Of course Bobo was leading them. Bobo was Addie's nickname for Nancy Bobofit, a redheaded kleptomaniac who thought she could do whatever she wanted just because Mrs. Dodds favored her. Even now, the evil Pre-Algebra teacher stood behind the class, glowering at Addie and Percy's general direction. She was more like a bat than a woman.

"Then perhaps you can tell us what this picture represents?" Mr. Brunner motioned behind him to the gruesome picture that Addie just noticed: a giant, bearded man swallowing an infant while a woman in a toga stood in front of him, almost disinterestedly watching on as her husband ate their child.

It seemed familiar to Addie, but, then again, she sometimes had trouble remembering her own name. Percy was much better at this kind of thing.

"It's Kronos," he finally answered, "eating his kids."

"Yes…" Mr. Brunner responded, waiting for Percy to continue.

"He was King god—"

Mr. Brunner cut in. "God?"

"Titan," Percy corrected himself as he explained how Kronos was distrustful of his children because of a prophecy that they would one day rise and take power, so he ate them. Finally, with the birth of his last son, his wife tricked her husband and fed him a substitute and hid the baby on earth, where the child grew up and came back to trick his father into barfing his siblings back up. What resulted was a ten yearlong war with the gods winning. It was real warm, fuzzy story in the way that Mrs. Dodds was warm and fuzzy.

Bobo made a snide comment behind Percy's back that Addie didn't quite catch, but she had a feeling that it certainly wasn't a compliment. Addie felt an itching to throw her shoe at her, but, fortunately, Mr. Brunner came to the rescue.

"And to paraphrase what Miss Bobofit's question, does this matter in real life?" Mr. Brunner gave a pointed look to Bobo, then glanced back to Percy.

Grover smiled, nudging Addie. "Busted." She covered her laugh with a cough.

Bobo heard and hissed at them to shut up, but that couldn't take away the fact that she was redder than Cheetos.

Percy shrugged. "I dunno, sir."

Mr. Brunner seemed disappointed. "I see. Well, half-credit, Mr. Jackson," and he corrected Percy's story, but Addie didn't pay particular attention, mostly because she didn't really care about this ancient history stuff. Sure, it was interesting, if inapplicable to Addie's life. Right now, her largest concern was how she was going to wipe Bobo's prideful look off her ugly face.

Mr. Brunner dismissed the class for lunch, which translated into 'do what you want for an hour,' and with twenty-eight hyperactive kids, Addie wondered the wisdom behind that decision, but whatever. She wasn't about to say no to some free time. She and Percy and Grover followed the rest of the class outside, but at the last second, Mr. Brunner called Percy back.

"Keep going, I'll meet you two outside," Percy nodded.

"Think he's in trouble?" she asked Grover as they made their way back down the steps. The rain had stopped, leaving big puddles but the storm clouds still stuck around, threatening to spill at any second. After so many weeks of bad weather, she'd forgotten what the sun looked like.

"Nah," Grover said, but he looked a little worried. Then again, that's what he always seemed to be looking like. He glanced back at the Museum, but then shook his head. "He'll be fine," he reassured, not exactly looking reassured himself.

They found a spot near the fountain. Addie took out her unimpressive lunch (a plastic-wrapped peanut butter sandwich) and offered it to Grover, who shook his head. "After this morning, I think I've had enough of peanut butter for a while," he explained. The bus ride from Yancy had involved Bobo sitting behind him and throwing bits of her lunch at him. Addie hoped Bobo had nothing to eat now, and when she looked over, she found her trying to steal money from an old lady.

"Unbelievable," she muttered, shaking her head. That was it. This day officially sucked.

Having lost her appetite, she got up to throw her lunch away when, by chance, she happened to glance at the museum. Percy was coming back down from his chat with Mr. Brunner, but… behind him. There was a woman standing at one of the entrances, which was ordinary enough. She had black hair and green eyes, like Addie, but her clothing was definitely not ordinary. She wore a long, pleated toga made of a light, summery material tied at the waist by some kind of golden cord. It would have been pretty for warm weather, but it was blustery today, the kind of weather that required a jacket.

The woman also had a faint glow about her, like a greenish-blue aura barely noticeable. She seemed to stare right at Addie. Weird enough, but then she motioned for Addie to follow before she turned away and walked into the museum.

Addie looked around to make sure if anyone else had just seen what she had. Nope. The other kids were messing around, not paying attention to anything in particular and Grover was digging into his own lunch, absent from the real world.

"I'll be right back," she told him. Grover's eyebrows wrinkled, but he nodded anyways.

She raced up the steps, taking two at a time, passing by Mr. Brunner, who was now outside, though she had no idea when he had arrived. He was absorbed in his book so she said nothing to him. She also went by Percy who called her name in confusion.

"I'll be back in second," she shouted back before she entered in to the museum again.

Why was she doing this again? She wondered, searching for the woman in the toga. Maybe she had another hallucination. It certainly wasn't the first time. That kind of thing went along with her ADHD, so most of the time, Addie went through her day with bits and pieces of information missing from her brain. It was like looking at a portrait with holes in it.

"Addie." Someone said her name. She followed the voice into another hallway where she caught a glimpse of the tail end of that toga and followed it deeper into the museum.

As she ran, she figured if someone were trying to rob her, they'd be sorely disappointed.

Finally she ended up in the Ancient Egyptian gallery, which was just adjacent to the hallway that led to the Ancient Greeks and Romans section the class had visited earlier. The woman stared at a painting of the Nile River, which was etched into four thousand year old stone. Surrounding the Nile were a multitude of beings, divine or mortal, Addie couldn't tell.

"Um…" Addie awkwardly cleared her throat. "Hi."

"Hello, child." The woman turned around and Addie's breath caught in her throat. She was suddenly aware of how ragged her clothing was, the holes in her sneakers and her unkempt black hair. In contrast, the woman was absolutely stunning and her smile was kind.

Well, at least she wasn't going to rob Addie.

"You've grown," the woman commented.

"Um, do I know you?"

The woman laughed. "No, but I've watched you grow up since you were a baby."

"Who are you?"

The woman shook her head. "It doesn't matter." She reached out to touch Addie's face, but on reflex, Addie flinched away. The look of disappointment flashing across her eyes made Addie feel sorry that she had. "I have a gift for you," she continued.

"A what?"

"A gift," the woman smiled again, holding out her hand. In her palm was a bracelet made of leather strings with a single silver charm tied to them: an arrow with streamlined designs leading to a wicked sharp point. Experimentally, she poked herself with it and almost yelped at contact. The ADHD part of her loved it, but the smaller, rational side of her questioned it. Why would someone give her a gift, especially one like this? She remembered signs at train stations that said never to accept baggage that anyone else gave you because there could be a bomb or something.

"Are you a terrorist?" she blurted out, then turned redder than Bobo's hair. Smooth.

The woman raised an eyebrow then shook her head, chuckling. "Our time together is cut short," she said, raising a hand in goodbye. "I cannot stay much longer, but always remember that we are with you."

"Wait, what? Who's _we_?"

"Goodbye, Ariadne."

The woman literally faded in front of Addie's eyes, leaving the scent of a fresh ocean breeze behind, and she was left alone in front of the Nile drawing. _What just happened_—

Then there was a terrible, inhuman screech that echoed in the air. It sent shivers down Addie's spine. Doing the logical thing that came to her ADHD mind, she ran towards it, which happened to be the Greek and Roman section just down the hallway.

She found Percy in front of that Kronos-eating-his-kids-_stele_—only he wasn't alone. There was this _thing_ flying in front of him—a bat-like monster with black wings and talons and wrinkled, leathery skin. Addie screamed. The thing turned around to reveal a mouthful of deadly sharp fangs and it dove at her.

"Addie! Get out of here!" Percy shouted.

She dodged the thing's talons, but it pulled back, rearing for another attack.

_Use the bracelet_, a voice in her head commanded. _Pull the charm_, it echoed.

She didn't stop, she didn't think. She tugged the charm and as she pulled, a five and half foot spear, longer than she was tall, appeared from the strings. It was a wooden staff and a dangerously sharp metal arrow at the end that she vaguely realized as the charm from before, just larger and deadlier.

"Come at me!" she screamed, holding the spear with both hands, arrow pointed at the monster.

The thing lunged, and Addie realized that she literally had no idea what to do.

Just as she was sure she would die, the monster hacked and exploded into a yellow sulfurous powder. Percy stood where the monster had been vaporized, a three-foot long sword in his hand. He looked equally as confused and shaken as she did. They were alone, but it still felt as if they were being watched.

Addie gulped and her knees failed her. The spear clattered onto the marble floor. She fell along with it, unable to rationalize what she had just seen—or hadn't seen? Was this just another hallucination? She looked down. The spear was gone, and on her wrist was the charm bracelet from before, the arrow catching and reflecting the light back to her almost painfully.

There wasn't a sword in Percy's hand, just a pen. A regular ballpoint pen.

They both looked at one another, unable to speak. Percy seemed to recover first, if it could be called that. He helped Addie up, but she could feel him trembling. Thunder echoed in the museum, a low rolling sound that jarred them back to reality.

"Let's go," he said, shakily.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is my version of a Percy-has-a-sister fic. I saw what other people were doing and I finally wanted to put in my own two cents. What resulted was Addie. She'll only be sticking around with Percy for a few more chapters before I start to change things up for her. I hope you all enjoyed _Red Tide_ thus far. As always, feel free to review and thanks so much for taking the time to read.


	2. Not her Time

RED TIDE

CHAPTER TWO: NOT HER TIME  
(As always, I don't PJO; I also don't own Greyhound Lines, Inc.)

* * *

Addie hated spelling tests more than anything else—well, maybe for the exception of her step-dad, but, really, he could be pleased with a bowl of guacamole. For her, spelling tests were fundamentally unfair, like another way for the universe to screw with her brain.

Today gave her another reason to dislike them.

She sat in English class, elbows on desk, eyes half-lidded in boredom. Outside a storm raged on, rain pounding the windows so that it sounded like a flurry of nails was assaulting the building, but crappy weather was the norm now and she had since lost interest. Her foot absentmindedly tapped the floor in a random pattern. At the front of the class, Mr. Nicoll passed back papers. Some of them had bright yellow smiley face stickers.

"Subpar work, as always, Miss Jackson," Mr. Nicoll murmured as handed her paper and gave her a pointed look from the top of his bifocals.

Addie stuck her tongue out at him when he turned his back. _I'll subpar your face_, she thought, unsure of what 'subpar' meant.

She glanced at her sheet to the obnoxiously bright red, fat _F_ next to her name. Her eyebrows knitted as she stared at all the pen marks crossed over her misspelled words. Seriously, who gave a dyslexic kid a spelling test? That was just cruel, something along the lines of what Mrs. Dodds would do.

_Mrs. Dodds_… She frowned as she remembered the Pre-Algebra teacher—who had actually been that monster Percy had vaporized in the museum. It had been impossible to believe at first when he'd told her, but, then again, nothing about that field trip had made any sense. Addie had been there. Mrs. Dodds had tried to kill her—would have succeeded, too, if Percy hadn't stepped in. As much as she wanted to, her mind wouldn't let Addie forget that day.

Mr. Nicoll dropped a paper onto Percy's desk. Judging by all the red marks on it, Addie ventured a guess that he had done just as bad, if not worse, than Addie (though, it was quite a feat to get lower than a thirty-six percent). Percy's hardened expression remained unchanged as he glanced at the paper. He uncrossed his arms to crumple up the paper and throw it in the nearby wastebasket.

Big mistake.

"Is that the sort of attitude you have in my class?" Mr. Nicoll demanded, hands on his hips like a frustrated housewife. "No wonder you're failing!" There were snickers all around as the class watched Percy get reprimanded. Percy's face turned red, but he said nothing.

Mr. Nicoll wasn't finished. "Do you know what your problem is, Mr. Jackson? You're lazy, and you don't bother studying for these tests—" he emphasized tests by shaking the graded papers in his hand, "—even though you know they'll be coming up. Laziness is why you're failing!"

Then Percy snapped. "Oh, shove off, you old sot!"

Addie's first thought: _What?_ Then her eyes widened. _Oh no, Percy_. She might not know what _old sot_ meant, but she knew that he was definitely in trouble now.

Mr. Nicoll had a dazed look on his face for a half a second, like he couldn't actually believe that Percy had talked back. Then his eyebrows narrowed and his nostrils flared, like a bull ready to charge. "I believe you've just earned yourself a trip to the office, young man, and a detention."

Addie tried to give him a reassuring look as he passed by, but Percy only glared ahead, gaze fixed to some unknown point in the distance. He slammed the door behind him, leaving a silent classroom.

She hated spelling tests.

* * *

The next hour, at lunch, Addie explained to Grover what had happened in English class and he shook his head, concerned, morosely chewing on his lunch. Percy was still in the office, probably getting yelled at by the headmaster, a short man, who, despite his slightly pathetic appearance, came down hard on his students, especially Percy.

"I hope he's okay," Grover sighed.

"Yeah," Addie agreed, pushing her lunch towards Grover. "I'm not even hungry any more," she complained, knowing that Grover would never say no to free food. As scrawny as he was, Grover ate enough for three people.

She watched the storm outside for a moment before turning back to Grover. "Do you remember Mrs. Dodds?" she suddenly asked, testing him at the risk of looking insane. As far she knew, every single other student in her grade knew nothing about a Mrs. Dodds, except Percy, of course. It was like the woman had never even existed, much less taught them math (and done a horrible job at it).

Grover didn't meet her gaze. "Wh—who?" he asked, his voice about an octave higher than usual, and she could tell at once he knew something.

"Mrs. Dodds," she repeated. "You know, Pre-Algebra teacher, leather jacket, evil eyes." _And wings and fangs_, she mentally added.

"Mrs. Kerr is our Pre-Algebra teacher," Grover swallowed. Well, he wasn't wrong. Mrs. Kerr, all smiles and grins, had appeared on the bus at the end of the field trip and had since then taken on Mrs. Dodds' job.

"Yeah, but who was there before her?"

Grover seemed to be having a mental debate with himself. Just when she thought she was about to make a breakthrough, he suddenly smiled, looking behind her and waving. "Percy!"

She glanced back to see Percy walking towards them, a sullen look on his face. He didn't say anything as he sat down next to Addie.

"So," she prompted. "What happened?"

Percy's tone was flat. "The headmaster yelled at me. He said I have a week to straighten up."

"Or?" Grover asked.

"I'll be kicked out."

"Oh, Percy," Addie consoled. "I'm so sorry."

"I don't even care," Percy snapped.

"What? Why?"

He said nothing. Addie nudged him in the side. He pushed her back. "Just leave me alone," he muttered.

* * *

Addie would have been lying if she said that Percy made a sudden turnaround. Instead, he only continued on his downward slope that had begun since the field trip. Look, it was freaky enough that her Pre-Algebra teacher had turned into a giant bat monster and tried to kill them, but the worst part was that it was just so _unexplainable_. No one else knew or would know because if she tried telling anyone, they would probably put her in a straightjacket and lock her up in the nearest psychiatric ward.

Following the field trip, Addie's sleep had been disturbed nightly by strange dreams that she kept forgetting within hours of waking up, which was completely frustrating. She was more on edge than usual, full of a nervous, tight energy that kept her wound up all the time. Percy was affected from that day, too, judging by the way he kept acting out in class and getting into fights, but she had no idea how to help. So it was no surprise when Percy told her that the headmaster had informed him he couldn't come back next year. The letter had already been sent home. Still stung by his bad attitude, she stuck her tongue out at him.

"You deserve it," she hissed, almost immediately regretting her words, but she didn't take them back.

He glared back at her. "It's not like you like it here, either," he retorted.

"How do you know," she demanded. "Maybe I actually love it here, but who cares now, since you've ruined it for me. That's what you're good at, Percy: ruining things."

Hurt flashed in his eyes, and Addie instantly felt bad. "Whatever, Addie," he spat, stalking off somewhere else.

They didn't speak again until the night before finals, when Percy stumbled into her dorm, pale-faced but sweating, like he had just donated blood before running a race.

Addie forgot about their fight and rushed to him. "Percy! Are you okay?"

"They were talking about me," Percy said.

"Huh?"

"Mr. Brunner and Grover!" he cried. "They were talking about me!"

"What!?"

"I went into Mr. Brunner's class to get some help for the final, but I heard Grover in there and the door was open. They said my name so I listened in," he described, sitting down on her bed, still white-faced. "They said that I was in some kind of danger—like I was gonna die, or something, and they mentioned you, too."

"They did?"

Percy nodded. "And something about a Kindly One."

_What's a Kindly One? _She wondered, but didn't voice it aloud. "Maybe that's a good thing," she said, trying to comfort him. "_Kindly_ One? That's sounds good, doesn't it?"

Percy didn't say anything. "I just wanna to go home," he sighed.

Addie couldn't help but agree. Sure, Smelly Gabe sucked, and their apartment was always a mess because of him, but their mother was there, too, and that made everything worthwhile.

"Just a few more days," she said, sitting down next to Percy. "Then we can see Mom again." She took in a deep breath and then spoke again, looking at the floor and avoiding his eyes. "Percy, I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't really mean it, you know."

Percy shook his head. "It's fine," he murmured, giving her a lopsided smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Let's just survive the rest of the week."

* * *

Finals started and ended and Addie could say with utmost confidence that she had probably failed every one of them, but she didn't particularly care. Since Percy wasn't coming back next year, she wouldn't be either, which was just fine by her. She had enough of Yancy Academy. All the other kids were rich and rude and looked down at her and Percy; the teachers weren't any better either, except for Mr. Brunner, who she was genuinely sorry to say goodbye to. But the thought of a whole three months without any classes or spelling tests or homework and never having to deal with Bobo again was a comfort, so she didn't bother getting too depressed about it.

She practically skipped to Percy's dorm where she found him haphazardly throwing clothes into his suitcase. Addie grabbed his math textbook off the shelf and threw it into the garbage as he finished packing.

"All done," she beamed. "Let's get out of here."

"Let's say goodbye to Grover first," Percy said, shutting the door behind him.

"Yeah, sure." They took off for Grover's dorm, but as it turned out, they didn't need to say goodbye yet. He was taking the same bus into the city they were. _Fun, fun_, Addie thought as they walked out onto the school lawns where a blue and white Greyhound bus waited to take them back to New York.

There weren't very many open seats on the bus. Grover and Percy sat together and talked in hushed tones while Addie went to the back. She didn't mind. Grover was more Percy's friend; besides, she didn't know how much more of Grover's reedy voice she could take, especially now, since he seemed so much more on edge than usual, which was understandable. His only two friends were leaving, so Addie did feel a little sorry for him. He was tall and scrawny, acne-ridden and awkward and easy to pick on. After making friends with Percy and her, Grover had pretty much sealed the deal to become one of the school's losers, and next year, he'd be all alone.

"Wake me when we get there," she told Percy before sitting down near the back and using her bag as a pillow. For the first time in months, she didn't dream, but her restful nap was cut short by a deafening noise from the bus and the smell of sulfur. Immediately she was taken back to when Percy had vaporized Mrs. Dodds, that monster-powder she'd exploded into. Addie panicked for half a second before she remembered where she was.

The driver cursed, pulling the Greyhound over. Smoke was coming out of the dashboard. One by one, everyone filed out into the midday heat, squinting in the bright sun. Addie used her hands to shadow her eyes and spotted in the far distance, at the horizon, dark clouds gathering, ominous and deadly. She frowned. Great, more storms. That's just what she needed: being cooped up inside their apartment with Smelly Gabe ordering them around.

"What's up with the bus," she asked. Grover and Percy shrugged, just as clueless as she was. They watched the driver struggle with the engine, colorfully cussing all the while. That kind of stuff her mother would never allow her to watch on TV.

"Hey, look," Percy voiced, pointing across the highway to an old-fashioned wooden fruit stand where a whole array of fresh produce was on display. "Those look good." Addie nodded in agreement. She didn't even like eating fruit, but she had to admit it looked pretty appetizing.

"Hang on," Addie said, digging into her pocket for some spare change. "I'll be right back," she promised, quickly scurrying across four lanes of traffic without even bothering to look for cars.

"No, Addie, stop!" Grover cried, holding up a hand. "Come back!" But if she heard, she ignored him.

There were three old women manning the stand, three ancient, wrinkled old ladies with frighteningly intense, cold blue eyes. Two of them were knitting giant, torso-sized socks, which would have been a little funny, if they didn't look so serious doing it, like it was of the utmost importance that some giant's feet be kept warm.

Addie felt strange approaching the old women, as if she was stepping in on something… primordial. Time seemed to slow down and she was suddenly aware of _everything_. The heartbeats of the bus passengers on the other side of the road, the life force of the nearby maple tree, even the ants crawling along on the dirt and the worms burrowing in it. She could hear the sliding of the yarn strings over one another and the clicking sounds of the knitting needles, which, eerily enough, were akin to the ticking of a clock.

It was freaky, to say the least.

"How—how much for the cider," she finally managed to ask, and just like that, the spell was broken.

If any of the three old ladies had heard, they didn't respond, calming continuing their crocheting. Then, one of them sitting at the side pulled out one of the pieces of yarn. The electric blue string shimmered in the sun, catching the light in an entirely un-yarn-like way.

"Not yet," the middle one spoke, holding up her gnarled hand. Her voice was like a whisper in the darkness. For the first time, Addie noticed a pair of golden scissors, huge like a pair of shears, sitting in her lap. A feeling of cold washed over Addie as she stared at them. Harmless just sitting there, but there was an aura of danger surrounding them, like looking at something that's caused so much pain and destruction. "Tis not her time. The boy, however…"

The other old lady nodded, unraveling part of her sock to hold up another piece of yarn. Addie noted that it was just a few shades darker. Actually, now that she looked at the other strings making up the socks, they were all separate shades of blue, all crossing over one another, intertwining, forming a complex surface of yarn. It was beautiful, Addie realized.

The woman took her shears and casually snipped the yarn-at least, it should have been casual, but the moment the scissors cut the cord, Addie felt a snapping within her, an echoing cracking sound. Her blood went cold.

She backed away, sparing one last glance at the three old ladies, who now themselves seem to be shimmering in the heat as they rolled up their demon socks. She ran back across the highway, feeling sick and anxious for no reason at all, and when she found Percy and Grover back on the bus, she found herself unable to explain to them what exactly had happened. Grover was practically bleating in panic.

"What did you see? What happened?" he cried.

Addie shrugged. "I dunno," she mumbled. "She cut the string. That's it."

"Which string. What did she say!?"

"Something like, 'It's not her time,'" she mimicked in her best old lady voice. "And she put it back and pulled out another. 'But, the boy...'" She made a snipping motion with her hands.

Grover blanched and made a clawing motion at his heart, and then pushed his hand out forward. "Oh no, no, no, no," he mumbled. "This can't happen again."

Percy shot an irritated look at him. "What's the big deal? What's the string supposed to be?"

"It's always the sixth grade. They never make it past the sixth grade," Grover said, mournfully.

"Grover, it's fine," Percy said, just as the bus roared back to life. Some of the passengers cheered and began to board the bus again. Addie sighed in relief. As much as she loved being stuck in the middle of nowhere with creepy old women, she wanted to see her mom as soon as possible. No more delays.

"What does it mean?" Percy asked. "What's so special about the cord being snipped? Is it a superstition?" Grover didn't reply, only looking more miserable than before. Percy hesitated. "…Is someone going to die?"

"Whoa—what," Addie cut in, looking back and forth from Percy to Grover. "Wait a minute, who said anything about anyone _dying_! Maybe they were talking about cider—like, maybe, it wasn't for sale, or something!" Even she didn't buy her own excuse, but, honestly, she didn't even want to think about the old ladies let alone talk about them anymore. "Let's just drop this."

No one said anything until Grover finally spoke up again. "Please, promise me one thing."

"Yeah, sure," Percy said. "Whatever."

"Let me walk you guys back home from the bus stop."

Percy looked to Addie, who only shrugged, an exaggeratedly confused look on her face. _I dunno_, she mouthed.

"Okay, Grover," Percy finally said, consenting to the peculiar request. "You can take us home."

Grover nodded, dolefully looking on as he chewed his thumbnail. "It's always sixth grade," he sighed, giving a mournful glance at Percy. "Just like last time…"

The bus lumbered on.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Boring chapter, I know, but I just had to get this out of the way. Love it? Hate it? I'd like to know what everyone thinks. As always, thanks so much for reading.


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